Less overall, but more of the same: drivers of insect population trends lead to community homogenization

The continuing decline in the diversity and biomass of insects and other arthropods has caused great concern not only among scientists, but also among society, policymakers and stakeholders. A major reason for this is that many ecosystem services depend on diverse insect communities. Despite numerous studies on the dynamics of insect communities, their causes are still not fully understood. Rather than focusing on additional evidence of population declines, a new special feature published in Biology Letters addresses the causes and consequences of population and diversity trends, aiming at a better mechanistic understanding of the observed dynamics.